Gerrardasnails:I'm guessing that a lot of people who have posted on this post have no experience of media players. For one, there is no need to spend anywhere near £1k. Actually, there is nothing on the Market that does which fits the OP's brief. I have used the HDX BD1 and it's good but firmware updates (very important with media players/tanks). I now have the Popcorn Hour A-200 which I have reboxed into a nice bespoke case (the original is horrible). This does everything the OP wants apart from ripping DVDs and Blurays - no machine that I know of does that. As for a PC being an alternative, well even a £2k one won't play video as well as a media player with Syabas software.
So, I would go with PCH A-200 and get the modded case for £40 (total £210). A DAC if you don't have one for music through the player. Whatever storage route you want to go down (I have an internal 1tb drive and a Samsung Story 1.5tb external drive). Then you can spend a bit on ripping software so that you can rip your discs and then add/stream to your media player.
For the record, it plays flac and wav bit perfectly. ALL video files, HD audio (apart from DD TrueHd - which is coming).
I'm not just trying to get a Media Player - and maybe I haven't made this clear enough in my posts (I should re-read them). I'm trying to get a home media "hub" (for want of a better word) that will allow me to automate the process of ripping CDs and (non-commercial) DVDs, with the capacity to do the same for Blu-Rays down the line act and as a Media server for media players, both music and video - with the core of that distributed playback being provided for by the Sonos.
I wanted it to be in my media cupboard, so I wanted it quite. Hence the Zino is acting as the Hub, doubling up for the NAS to start with, till I get a proper NAS. I did consider an HTPC (bought or built), but couldn't find one to spec/cost to buy and the three small ones prevent me having the time to build one myself...
I was interested in the Popcorn, but I still wanted the DVD/CD ripping, so that meant I needed another solution and didn't want to use either of the two laptops in the house for this purpose (for various reasons - one too old, one out and about to much), so needed a new PC/Ripper anyway, so that was factored in.
OK the iPad was an extension to the original requirements and to be honest is more of a lifestyle choice.
Agree with you about a DAC, but the Sonos will be wired into my AVR250, using its DAC which is pretty good. When I get another Sonos to connect to the A85 (or its replacement) a DAC is on the menu.
As I've pursued the project I have realised that the brief is probably only satisfied by some £10-15k Sooloos system, or its ilk. But I've persevered, to see how family-friendly a device I can put together from a zero level (except for Hi Fi and AV equipment) which is where I'm at. I could have gone for a more technical, working solution for a lot lot less money, but I was trying to get something that my wife, and down the line, my kids, could use relatively easily. Hence why I'm contemplating XBMC or MyMovies for the movies media interface.